First into the office this morning and it has benefits, pick of the biscuits and a chance to read the latest edition of Prehistoric Times magazine (spring 2016), that arrived over the weekend and what a jam-packed, splendid edition it is. The front cover features Carnotaurus artwork by Kurt Miller which dovetails nicely into an informative feature on this, perhaps the most famous of the abelisaurids, by the talented Phil Hore. Phil begins his article with a short fantasy piece before providing a detailed biography of this long-legged hunter from South America. The article is illustrated with copious amounts of reader submitted artwork. As Prehistoric Times editor, Mike Fredericks freely admits, he was somewhat overwhelmed by the number of Carnotaurus illustrations he received for this issue. It’s hard to pick a personal favourite, Todd Mills gave his Carnotaurus a bright yellow throat pouch, whilst Ashli Lenox’s drawing was very reminiscent of the Papo Carnotaurus replica – all great stuff. A special mention goes to Wade Carmen for providing a beautiful illustration of the skull of this Late Cretaceous predator.

Weaving its way through issue 117, like the ossified tendons associated with caudal vertebrae on a Edmontosaurus, is a super article all about the ground-breaking palaeoartist Zdeněk Burian. John R. Lavas, the writer, has provided a comprehensive guide to this famous Czech painter’s legacy and of course there are lots and lots of examples of his spectacular artwork. Tracy Lee Ford gives budding artists a bit of head’s up in the second part of his thought-provoking feature regarding how to illustrate feathered dinosaurs. Readers of this quarterly magazine might remember that in issue 116 Tracy called for a curtailing on the amount of feathered dinosaur drawings being produced, this time, the focus is on feathered Theropods and how to interpret fossil feather impressions. The article concludes with some well drawn sketches including an interpretation of the recently described Dakotaraptor steini.

Phil Hore’s other major contribution to the spring edition is to provide the text on the Bear Dogs (Amphicyonidae), a family of geographically diverse carnivores that early hominids would have done well to avoid. Some great reader submitted artwork once again, including the rather cute image sent in by David Hicks of one of these apex predators taking an interest in a butterfly. Phil’s debut novel gets a mention. “The Order of the Dragon”, the first in the bloodline, gothic fantasy trilogy and a jolly good read it is too. For a review of “The Order of the Dragon”: The Order of the Dragon Book Review

Mesozoic Media Section Features “Tracks in Deep Time”

“Tracks in Deep Time” features in a Mesozoic media review.

Picture Credit: H. K. Luterman of Cedar City, Utah

Lots of new books get reviewed including Tracy Lee Ford’s first fiction novel (did he get the idea from co-contributor to Prehistoric Times, Phil Hore we wonder)? There is also the chance to learn a little about a newly published textbook all about the amazing trace fossils from the St George Dinosaur Discovery Site (Utah). Look out also for a tour of Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences, fossil news stories and more reader art, in what is a very full edition.

Last but not least, a quick mention of the three-page spread dedicated to the Cherilea range of prehistoric animal models, a range that can claim to be Britain’s first dinosaur set. In production, as far back as the late 1950’s, author and model dinosaur Anthony Beeson pays tribute to these trail blazers.